


Camp Lightside

by gaysandaliens



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Summer Camp, F/F, F/M, Finn is a foster kid, Luke is Rey's dad for the sake of storyline, M/M, all the droids are animals, and yes camp lightside is a basic name i know okay
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-04
Updated: 2016-09-20
Packaged: 2018-05-31 07:28:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 19,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6461296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gaysandaliens/pseuds/gaysandaliens
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Finn wasn't sure how he was going to survive summer camp. Between the crazy animals, Rey's constant pranks, and his ridiculously attractive bunkmate, he was only certain of one thing: this was going to be one hell of an experience.<br/>(idea credits to bluethunder2999 on tumblr!)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Welcome to Camp!

**Author's Note:**

> AN: like it says in the summary, all the credits for this idea go to bluethunder2999.tumblr.com, I'm just the mediocre writer who brought it to life!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finn, a dog, and a seriously cute bunkmate.

“Rey, are you sure?”  
Rey rolled her eyes, not bothering to flash Finn the reassuring smile she had given him the past twenty times he had asked that question.  
“Yes, Finn, I’m sure.”  
“But the map says-”  
Rey reached over from the driver’s seat and knocked the map out of Finn’s hand, earning a noise of protest from her friend. “Look, moron, what did Aunt Leia say when we asked about directions?” she asked.  
Finn huffed. “That it’s off the beaten path and no map will really tell you where it is.”  
“Riiiigght. So fuck your map. I’m following Leia’s directions, whether you like it or not.” She glanced over at Finn glaring at her and chuckled. “Just relax dude. You worry too much.”  
Finn slouched down in his seat and pouted out the window. “You worry too little.”  
Staying focused on the dirt road, Rey made a finger gun motion at him. “You know it, babe.”

 

Finn was still feeling apprehensive when they pulled up to Camp Lightside. He had never been to camp before, his foster home hadn't let kids go to camp. He was only here to work now because Rey’s family practically owned the place and needed some help for the summer. Her dad and aunt had taken over the camp after they returned from the Great War. Even after both siblings had children and families of their own, they continued to run the camp, with everyone lending a hand. Finn supposed that he was now being indoctrinated into the camp tradition, since the Skywalker family had basically adopted him his freshman year of college.  
“You getting out, hotshot?” Rey leaned over her seat and flicked his ear, startling him out of his daze. He stuck out his tongue at her and opened his car door. He stood, stretched his legs, took a deep breath of air, and was immediately assaulted by a large blur of fur.  
Finn laid on the ground, stunned, as a large, shaggy dog licked his face. And his neck. And his ears. And anywhere that wasn’t covered by clothing. Once the dog had been removed from his chest, he had been thoroughly soaked. He bolted up from the ground, almost colliding with the tall, silver haired man holding the dog.  
The older man grinned. “You must be that Finn kid Luke and Rey won’t shut the fuck up about,” he said.  
Finn swallowed. “Yessir, that would be me, I’m the… uh… kid.”  
Rey bounded up and wrapped her arms around the man’s chest. “Finn, this is Uncle Han, Uncle Han, this is Finn!”  
“That’s Mr. Solo to you, kid,” said Han, wrapping one arm around Rey while simultaneously holding his giant dog at bay. “And this is Chewie. He won’t hurt ya, he just likes making friends is all.”  
The dog, as if on cue, made a strangled gargling noise, sending Rey into fits of giggles. Finn smiled, despite his earlier nervousness. “Well, it’s nice to meet you Mr. Solo. And you too, Chewie,” said Finn. Chewie, upon hearing his name, barreled forward and broke free of Han’s grip, running headlong into Finn’s thighs and knocking him to the ground once more.

 

“Rey! Good to see you made it here safely!”  
Finn watched as Rey hugged her Aunt Leia, who, despite her greying hair and little wrinkles, still held youth in her eyes and mannerisms. Rey laughed. “Aunt Leia, I’ve been coming here since I was born.”  
“Yes, but your father got lost on the way up here every time! I figured you would too, dear, that’s why I sent you directions,” Leia said, pulling away from Rey to look her in the eye.  
Rey gave another little chuckle. “Yeah, I followed them, but bozo over here didn’t trust me,” she said, jerking her head towards Finn, who immediately looked away. Leia pulled away from her niece to stand in front of Finn, sizing him up. He immediately stood up straighter and tried to puff himself up.  
Finn was no idiot. He knew who Rey’s aunt was. Senator of Alderaan, General of the Rebel Alliance, and a key founder of the New Republic, Leia Organa Solo was a household name. She was a legend and a hero, and someone Finn had looked up to his whole life. And now, standing in front of her, he felt like he might puke.  
Leia looked him over. “So you’re Finn, huh?”  
Finn nodded, still tense. “Yes ma’am,” he said, mimicking the manners taught to him by one of his foster families. Leia, however, just waved it off.  
“None of that ‘ma’am’ shit. Makes me feel old. Just call me Leia, kiddo.”  
Finn started, unsure what to say. He shuffled his feet and looked at his hands. “Sorry ma- Leia,” he corrected himself quickly, not wanting to seem disrespectful.  
Leia just chuckled. “Relax, sweetheart. You worry too much.” Rey, hearing her earlier sentiments repeated, stared right at Finn, making him grin. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad.

 

Nope. It was pretty bad.  
Finn, now dry, readjusted his bag on his shoulder and stared at the signs in front of him. Rey had left him in pursuit of her own cabin assignment, and now Finn was left, lost in his search for cabin 2187. Sighing, he followed the path to the right. Maybe this was a huge mistake. Everyone here seemed to know what they were doing. Him, he got lost getting to his own cabin. How the hell was he supposed to keep up with his responsibilities if he couldn’t even find his own damn cabin?  
Lost in thought, Finn didn’t even notice the orange and white blur until it weaved right between his feet, knocking him down for the third time that day. Finn groaned and looked at the culprit, but instead of finding a massive dog, instead, there was a fox. _Oh my God. Oh fuck oh fuck what the fuck,_ thought Finn, attempting to come up with an exit strategy without hurting himself or the animal. The fox in question stood balanced on Finn’s hips, head cocked to one side and body wriggling, oblivious to Finn’s rising blood pressure.  
“BB! BB no! Get offa him, c’mere!”  
In a flash, the fox lept off of Finn and ran towards the voice, leaving Finn dazed on the ground. Shortly after, the voice returned and a face came into view. And _oh God,_ thought Finn, was it a nice face.  
“You wouldn’t happen to be Finn Trooper, wouldya?”

 

The owner of the face, voice, and fox, BB, was Finn’s cabin mate, Poe Dameron. Poe had helped Finn up, apologizing for BB’s enthusiastic greeting while dusting dirt off of him and picking up Finn’s bag. He introduced himself and his fox, leading him to their cabin and throwing open the door.  
“Well, here’s home sweet home for the summer. No AC, but plenty of fans, and the windows can open if you hit ‘em just right,” said Poe, grinning as he set Finn’s bag on one of the beds. “Hope you don’t mind, I already claimed the other bed, but I figured it wouldn’t be a big deal. They’re both ancient anyway.”  
Finn, stood there, feeling mildly overwhelmed. First, he had to deal with roadtripping with Rey, which was stressful no matter what. Then, he got assaulted by a dog and was introduced very quickly to not only Rey’s intimidating uncle, but also to his childhood hero who met him when he was covered in dog spit, no less. And now, the icing on the cake: being tripped by a fox, who happened to belong to his ridiculously attractive roommate. Oh yeah, this summer was gonna be a trip.  
Suddenly, Finn realized Poe standing by his bed, waiting for Finn to confirm that bed assignments were, indeed, not a big deal. Finn blushed. “Oh, uh, no, it’s no big deal. I can sleep anywhere, in all honesty.”  
Poe nodded and sat down on his own bed, reaching down to scratch BB’s ears. Finn stared, still wondering how the fuck his roommate had a fox. He opened his mouth to ask, but not before Poe noticed him staring.  
“She’s domesticated,” chuckled Poe, indicating BB with a tilt of his head. “She was my grad gift from my parents. They’re a bit… eccentric, but I love her. She’s one of a kind.” Poe looked at Finn and smiled, and Finn found himself smiling too. He sat down and took off his shoes, glancing around the cabin. He began removing items from his bag, but could feel Poe’s eyes on him. Finn suddenly became hyper-aware of everything about himself; his old shirt, his patched jeans, his shoes, falling apart. He was just grateful that Poe couldn’t see the scar across his back.  
Suddenly, their door was thrown open and Rey came bounding in, throwing herself into Poe’s arms, squealing. Poe laughed loudly, hugging her tightly. Rey stood, brushing hairs out of her face. “Finn, how’d you end up bunking with this giant nerd?” she laughed, ignoring Poe’s indignant “Hey!” as she sat on the floor, much to BB’s delight.  
Finn smiled, grateful to see a familiar face. “Please, Rey, if they really wanted to trap me with a giant nerd, you and I would be bunking together,” he laughed, watching Rey stick her tongue out at him.  
Rey turned her attention towards Poe. “I’m sure Aunt Leia told you all about Finn, but good luck living with him. He’s a neat freak. And he snores.”  
Finn made a face of mock shock. “I most certainly do not!” he yelled, throwing some socks at her. Poe laughed at the two of them, head in his hands. Finn grinned, all earlier feelings of anxiety gone.  
Okay, maybe this would be fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> chapter one done! I'll try to post a new chapter soon for you guys. leave reviews with any criticism or whatever. again, thanks to bluethunder2999 on tumblr for the inspo!


	2. What's Your Story?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke makes food, Poe is a prideful moron, and Finn tells his story.

Finn groaned and relaxed in his chair, a dazed grin on his face. Rey giggled and laid her head on his shoulder. Poe sat on the left of Finn, a content smile on his face and a hand across his full stomach. Shaking his head, Luke reached across the table and picked up the empty plates the had left in front of them. “You guys eat like wild animals,” he muttered, a smile on his face. “Are they not feeding you at this college I’m paying thousands of dollars for you to attend, Rey?”  
Rey shook her head. “They could never make food as good as yours, dad. It’s all your fault I’m a picky eater.”  
Luke huffed and turned to look at the three of them. Rey wrinkled her nose at her father, bringing a smile to his face. He leaned over the counter and scratched his beard. “How about you, Finn? Doing okay?”  
Finn smiled and nodded. “Yes sir. Thanks for all the care packages, they kept me sane during my finals.”  
Poe’s eyebrows shot up. “Whoa, care packages? Why the hell am _I_ not included in this deal?”  
Rey snorted. “You were, remember? And then you decided to be healthy.” She mussed her hair and imitated Poe’s posture in the seat. “Dear Uncle Luke, your food is great but I can’t get buff eating cookies and brownies, so I don’t want your joy and love anymore. Love, future muscle pilot, Poe Dameron,” she finished her mock letter, smiling at Finn’s silent laughter and her dad’s grin.  
Poe just grumbled, sinking into his jacket. “It’s not my fault Air Force cadets are all super buff,” he mumbled.  
Now it was Finn’s turn to be surprised. “Air Force?”  
Poe nodded, sitting up a little straighter. “Yep. Trying to follow in my mom’s footsteps, y’know? Join the Resistance, fight for the New Republic, take out some Galactic Empire scum…”  
Luke snorted. “It’s not the Galactic Empire you have to worry about anymore. It’s that shitty little group, the First Order,” he shook his head in disdain. “Little fuckers think they can bring that shit back? I lost a hand in that war, I’ll be damned if they want a rematch.”  
Poe shrugged. “I know, Uncle Luke, I know. I just want to be a hero, like you and Leia.”  
Luke got a devilish grin on his face. “You want to be a hero?” Poe nodded eagerly, and Luke launched a potato at him. “Start peeling these. You’ll be my hero.”

 

“Next time, would you tell us you don’t know how to use a potato peeler?”  
Back in Finn and Poe’s cabin, Poe chuckled softly as Finn rifled through their ancient first aid kid, trying to find disinfectant and bandages for Poe’s fingers. “Sorry, mom. But that also implies I’ll peel potatoes at some other point in my life,” he replied from his spot on Finn’s bed.  
Finn shook his head as he applied peroxide to a cotton pad. “I’ve known you for all of what, two hours? And I’m already taking care of you like you’re ten years old.”  
Poe shot him a charming grin. “It’s nice, actually. Something I could get used to. What do you say about moving in?”  
“Ooh, I dunno about that. Don’t you think BB would get jealous?” Finn laughed, carrying his supplies over and sitting on the floor in front of Poe. BB, hearing her name, perked her ears, but didn’t bother moving from her spot on Poe’s pillow.  
Poe hissed when Finn started cleaning the cuts on his fingers. “C’mon man, don’t we have anything else? That shit burns,” he whined.  
Finn looked up at Poe. “Sorry, but this is what happens when you’re a prideful little fucker. How’re you going to handle the Air Force when you can’t even put peroxide on a cut?”  
Poe glared at him, but stopped complaining. Finn finished disinfecting the cuts and placed bandages on them. “All done. Do you want a lollipop for being such a good little boy?” mocked Finn.  
Poe grinned and laid back on Finn’s bed. He looked up from his position and patted the spot next to him. Finn hesitated, but eventually copied Poe’s position, stretching out on his back across the bed.  
“What’s your story, Finn?”  
Finn’s anxiety skyrocketed. “M-my what?”  
“Your story. Why are you here, how do you know Rey and Luke, where are you from, whatever the hell you want,” replied Poe lazily, his eyes closed.  
Finn exhaled, thinking. “Well, um, I’ve been a foster kid all my life. Aged out of the system at 18 and got a scholarship to UC Berkeley. I’m working, like, 3 jobs just to stay in and keep my scholarship, but honestly, it’s the best place I’ve ever been.”  
Poe looked at Finn incredulously. “A scholarship? To UC Berkeley? Holy shit, how smart are you?”  
Finn grinned. “I took a bunch of AP classes and kept an unweighted 4.0. That plus my ‘foster kid sob story’ did it for me, I think.”  
Poe snorted. “Well I know that’s where Rey goes. Is that where you met?”  
“Mmhmm. We were in the dining hall and I ran out of money. I was about to drink the free coffee creamers they had out before Rey stopped me and offered to buy me lunch. She and her dad have been taking care of me since then,” Finn said, smiling at the memory. “That was freshman year. I took summer classes that year, so Rey and Luke sent me care packages all summer. She sent me letters and pictures from this place, and I said it looked like fun. I guess she interpreted that as ‘I want to go to summer camp’, so now here I am.”  
Poe nodded, smiling. “Luke likes to take people in. It’s why he’s got Rey. He did it to me too, and my mom and dad. Anybody Luke meets, it’s like they become his family. It’s nice, but between my parents, Luke, and Leia, it’s like I have double of everything.”  
Finn made a noise of agreement. “Yeah. It’s been strange to suddenly have someone to look out for me, but it’s better that having nothing,” he mumbled, closing his eyes. Poe looked at Finn, studying his face, before closing his eyes as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this chapter took so long/is so short but IB finals are kicking my ASS. I might have a new chapter up by the end of this month but no promises. Once summer hits be prepared because I'm gonna try to crank out at least one chapter a week.  
> Again sorry! You guys are the best! Thank you so much for all the great reviews!!!  
> Also fun fact-the story about Finn running out of money and almost drinking coffee creamers out of desperation is based off of a college experience of my history teacher.


	3. Morning Jog

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finn just wanted to go on a run.

Finn lifted his blanket above his eyes to shield them from the invasive light coming in from the window above his bunk. Eventually realizing there was no hope for escape, he sat up and rubbed his eyes. He looked over at Poe’s bunk, only to find what looked like a pile of blankets with a mass of curls, topped off by a sleeping fox. He smiled to himself and picked up his phone off the ground to check the time. Finn made a little noise of triumph when he saw it was 6:30 A.M. That meant he’d have enough time to go for a little run before breakfast.  
Attempting to lessen the creaking of the bed, Finn slid himself off his mattress and knelt by his duffel. Pulling out shorts, a t-shirt, and his socks and sneakers, he quickly changed, carefully watching for signs of life from his bunkmate. He made his bed and folded his pajamas out of habit, then wrote Poe a note to let him know where he was before he made his way to the door. He unlatched it carefully before heading outside into the cool morning air.

 

Finn loved his morning jogs.  
It had started out as something he hated. His (ex) foster father was former military, and he made Finn and the others run about 4 miles before school, 8 on the weekends. Finn threw up a few times his first few runs. However, he grew to love it. It gave him a sense of strength and peace, and the feeling of cool air in his lungs and dew on his legs was unbeatable. He was jogging through one of the trails, enjoying the scenery. According to the marker, it was only about 3 miles, which was way shorter than his daily runs on campus, but it would do the job.  
Finn made it all the way to the end of the trail, which led into another set of cabins. Outside one of them, two boys stood arguing, gesturing at the cabin, then each other. One boy was extremely thin with pale skin and neat, red hair. Though he was very tall, he stood just a little bit shorter than the other boy, who was more muscular, with long, dark hair and moles dotting his face. Their volume and body language told Finn that this was not a conversation he wanted to get involved in, so he quietly tried to make his way away from the argument.  
“Hey!”  
Fuck.  
Finn stopped and turned. The dark haired boy was walking quickly up to him, with the thin boy running behind him. Both of them had facial expressions like they had eaten something particularly sour. If he was in any other position, Finn might have laughed.  
The dark haired boy stopped and stood alarmingly close to Finn. “Who the hell are you?” he sneered, looking down on him.  
Finn took a few steps back. “I-ah, I’m Finn. Finn Trooper. I’m a friend of Rey’s an-”  
“Oh! You’re that stupid boy that came up here with my stupid cousin, aren’t you?” the boy interrupted.  
Finn didn’t know what to say. “Uh, ye- wait, cousin?”  
The boy rolled his eyes. “What are you, dense? Yes, my cousin, Rey, who’s aunt is my mother Leia?” he shook his head. “My name is Ben Solo.”  
Finn almost laughed.  
There was no way that this asshole belonged to the same family tree as Luke, Leia, and Rey. Han, maybe, but Leia? The woman almost cried when she heard he almost drank coffee creamers before Rey saved him.  
The thin boy caught up and punched the other boy in the shoulder. “We weren’t finished. I swear to god you get ruder every year.” He looked at Finn and wrinkled his nose. “Who the hell are you?”  
Well, at least the assholes here seemed to be consistent.  
Finn opened his mouth to speak, but the dark haired boy, Ben Solo, cut him off. “This is that Finn boy my family won’t stop talking about.”  
The other boy nodded. “Hm. He’s not much.”  
Ben snorted in agreement. “Right? He’s smaller than I expecteAH!”  
Both boys yelled as someone grabbed the back of their necks and held them in a headlock. Now, Finn, standing at 5’9”, was not a small guy. So when he saw that the woman holding the two was taller and stronger than the boys that had previously towered over him, he began to get really concerned about what Luke was feeding them at this camp.  
“Would you stop giving new kids shit? You two are the worst!” the woman yelled as the boys struggled under her.  
Ben struggled under her. “Chill out, Phasma, we weren’t gonna do anything!” he whined.  
“Bullshit. You and Hux always cause problems around here.” She dropped them and they stumbled back. “Now, run off to your cabins and be good little boys, or I swear I’ll tell Leia that you two were smoking these past two mornings.  
Grudgingly, Ben and the other boy, who Finn now assumed to be “Hux”, sulked back to their cabin. The woman turned to look at Finn sizing him up. He just stared in awe. She was incredibly tall, with muscles that surpassed even Poe’s. Her light blonde hair was cropped short, and she had incredibly blue eyes.  
She was one of the coolest and most frightening people Finn had ever seen.  
Suddenly, she stuck her hand out. “Sorry about those two. They are nice, sometimes, if you’ve known them for long enough. I’m Phasma.”  
Finn reached out and shook her hand. “I’m Finn.”  
She nodded her head. "Well, sorry this is such a short meeting, Finn, but I should go make sure those two aren't getting into more shit. See you around!" She turned with a quick goodbye to return to her cabin, leaving Finn to head back to his cabin in a confused daze.

 

When Finn returned to his cabin, Poe was awake, reading a book. He bookmarked his place and put his book down to look at Finn. He smiled. “How was your run?” he asked, stretching.  
Finn shrugged. “It was fine. Bit shorter than I like.” He watched as Poe nodded while he lazily scratched BB.  
Finn unlaced his sneakers and kicked them off. “I ran into some other people. Do you know Ben and his friends?”  
Poe looked at Finn in disbelief, then chuckled before running his hands over his face. “Oh no, of all the people for you to meet by yourself, it had to be those three. Wait, it was three, right? Please tell me Phasma was there.”  
Finn nodded. “Yeah, Ben and that other kid, Hux? They were bugging me, it was no big deal, but Phasma put them in a headlock and told them to leave me alone. I like her.”  
Poe grinned. “Phasma’s great. She’s a captain in the marines, and she's one tough cookie. The other dude, Hux, he’s studying to take over his dad’s company.”  
“So what’s Ben’s deal? How’d Leia end up with a son like that?” Finn asked.  
Poe sighed and shook his head. “Y’know Anakin Skywalker? Dude that switched sides before the Great War? Apparently he’s Ben’s grandpa, Luke and Leia’s dad. He idolizes the guy, even though I doubt he would have the guts to turn to the First Order or whatever. He just acts like an ass to seem like he’s tough, but he’s kind of a pussy, as I’m sure you’ve figured out.”  
Finn and Poe laughed together before Poe stood up and stretched before pointing at Finn. “Get yourself together for breakfast, dude. I don’t want Leia to flip out because I’m not helping you get adequate morning nutrition.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was just a quick chapter to get some of those characters in. I made Phasma a kinda good guy because I fucking love Gwendoline Christie and I'm weak as hell sorry.  
> Also I'm now officially done with high school! That means a lot more updates for you guys, I hope you're exited!  
> Again, thank you all so much for the awesome feedback! It means so much to me!


	4. Assignments

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finn begins to believe that the universe is against him, and Leia is the leader of this grand scheme against him.

Finn walked along the path that took him from the mess hall to his cabin, hands in his pockets and food in his stomach. Poe had returned to the cabin earlier than him to shower, promising that he would leave the door unlocked for Finn. Rey had volunteered to stay behind and help her dad with cleanup, leaving Finn to walk back on his own. He breathed in the cool morning air, feeling a bittersweet sense of success at the fact that loneliness was no longer a commonplace, background emotion to him. His months under the care of Rey and Luke, and the two days of kindness from Leia, Han, Phasma, and Poe had strongly juxtaposed the isolation he’d felt in his fifteen years of foster care. Poe especially… Finn shook his head as he mused about his relationship with his bunkmate. Poe was only about two years older than him, yet fussed after him like he was his mother. He constantly made sure Finn was eating at every meal, and always goaded him about staying hydrated. Poe had even given Finn an extra pair of shoes he’d packed after he’d seen the sad state of Finn’s high tops. The way Poe behaved towards Finn… well, it confused him. Was it pity? Or was Poe way too nice? Or even worse… was Poe mocking him? Finn shuddered at the thought. What if Poe had noticed his desperate crush on him and was just indulging the “poor foster kid”?  
Finn was so deep in his thoughts that he didn’t notice the shrieks of laughter until he was at his cabin. He cocked his head, curious. He heard Poe's happy, light laughter, but it layered over a deep baritone laugh and a higher feminine laugh. Anxious, Finn turned the knob and stepped inside.  
“Finn! Buddy, oh, am I glad to see you! You have to get me away from these lunatics!” Poe wiped away tears as he choked out the sentence through his laughter. On the other side of the room, sitting on the floor against Poe’s bed, an Asian girl and a massive bearded man were clutching their stomachs, laughing along with Poe.  
“How dare you Dameron!” shouted the Asian girl.  
“If anything, we’re maniacs, not lunatics,” laughed the bearded man.  
Poe stood up from his bed and walked over to Finn, clapping him on the shoulder. “Finn, these maniacs,” Poe’s emphasis on the man’s word of choice earned him a nod of approval, “are Jessika Pava and Snap Wexley. They’re friends of mine from the academy, I got them to start working here our freshman year. You two, this is Finn. Don’t be weird.”  
The bearded man, who Finn now knew as Snap, made a face at Poe. “What is it Dameron, think we’re gonna embarrass you in front of your new friends?”  
Poe stuck out his tongue and went to sit back down on his bed. Finn remained in his spot until Jessika spoke. “Well come sit down, kid, we don’t bite.”  
Finn took off his shoes and gingerly climbed onto his bed, careful to avoid the two unfamiliar heads resting against it, and sat next to BB, who had decided to take her morning nap on Finn’s pillow. Poe watched him with amusement. “So Finn, where’s Rey? Jessika is just so excited to see her, right Jess?”  
“Kiss my ass, Dameron.”  
Poe gave her a devilish grin before turning back to Finn, awaiting a response. “She’s, uh, she’s in mess, helping her dad,” mumbled Finn, who felt confused and worried about the interactions between Poe and his friends.  
Of course he has other friends, Finn berated himself. Funny, handsome, charming, caring Poe would obviously be surrounded by happy bright people. What kind of convoluted self image did Finn have to think that Poe would want him to be his friend, or anything else?  
Finn was knocked out of his thoughts by a tap on the knee. He looked down, and Snap stared upat him with amused eyes. “You alright there spaceman? You zoned out on us for a while there.”  
Finn nodded, feeling heat in his cheeks. “Yeah, I’m fine, just kinda tired.”  
Across the room, Poe huffed. “That’s what you get for going for a run at the crack of dawn, hotshot.”  
Jessika now turned to look at Finn, excitement in her eyes. “You like morning runs too? I keep trying to get these two assholes to come with me but they’re lazy as hell.”  
Poe scoffed in false hurt. “Excuse me? I am not lazy, I just suffer from selective motivation.”  
Finn barked out a laugh at that. “Poe, this morning at breakfast I watched you eat hashbrowns with honey because you grabbed the wrong condiment packet and didn’t want to get up for ketchup.”  
Poe picked up a sock from the floor and lobbed it at Finn, face coloring at the laughter from Snap and Jess. The sock missed and hit BB, causing her to wake up with a loud shriek, sending the cabin into another peal of laughter.

 

Leia held up a hand, miraculously silencing the entire mess hall. Once again, Finn found himself in awe of the power she held in her actions.  
She smiled softly at the room full of counselors. Luke stood to the side, and Han next to him, with Chewie panting obediently at his feet. “Alright kiddos,” started Leia. “First, I’d like to thank all of you for taking time out of your summer to volunteer at our little camp!”  
The mess burst into a short applause, with some whoops around the room. Leia waited with a bright smile before she continued. “Now, you kids better get ready, because the next two months are gonna be filled with kids up to no good, tons of camp activities, and my brother’s cooking.” Leia pretended to shudder in disgust as Luke playfully punched her shoulder, a short round of laughter passing through the mess. “But, it’s also three months of new experiences, new friends, and some wonderful, wonderful memories,” her gentle smile lasted for a moment longer, turning into a merciless smirk as she pulled out a clipboard. “So remember the fun times you’ll have when you get your work assignments. I’ll have no grumbling this year!” Finn listened intently and nervously. He watched Ben and Hux get assigned to office duty and saw them grimace at each other. Phasma got assigned to the rock climbing and ropes course, Snap to canoeing. Rey and Jessika were paired to be counselors, which caused Rey to blush red and Jess to flash a nervous smile. Finn grinned at her obvious crush, and was so amused by their reactions that he almost missed the next assignment.  
“Counseling group 5: Finn Trooper and Poe Dameron.”  
Finn felt a nudge to his knee beneath the table. He turned to see a bright smile from Poe, which he tried to return despite the anxious fluttering of his heart. “Buddy, this is gonna be so much fun! Hope you’re up to handling the little monsters,” Poe had leaned in so close Finn could feel the heat of his breath on his ear. Finn nodded, hoping he didn’t look as shaken as he felt.  
He was so fucked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I. AM. SO. SORRY.  
> I know I promised you guys waaaaay more updates and more consistency but right after I posted chapter 3 I ran into the biggest writer's block of my fucking life. Thank you all for hanging in there, I know it's been ages. I had some time with little distractions so I was able to write three fucking chapters??? Holy shit. But yeah if you're reading this now it means that you have two more chapters coming up as a plea for forgiveness for my lack of update! Again, I'm so so so sorry, thank you all so much!


	5. Going for a Swim

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben's an asshole, Rey gets upset, Poe is amazing, and Han chops onions.

Finn leaned against his pillow, intent on finishing the book he was reading. The plotline had sucked him in, and he’d been reading the book since he arrived at camp. He had almost finished the chapter when Poe came bursting in, an excited smile on his face.  
“Finn! Buddy!” Poe panted out. “C’mon, it’s time for the first night swim!” he grabbed Finn’s arm as he spoke, causing him to drop the book. “You don’t want to miss it, I promise.”  
Finn felt apprehensive. “A-a swim? I don’t, um, don’t have my suit on.”  
Poe looked at him, then laughed. “I guess you’re right, neither do I.” He turned towards his things, rifling through his suitcase before finding a swimsuit. Finn colored and turned away when Poe began removing his shirt, beginning a search for his own suit. He put it on as quickly as possible, keeping his shirt on. He turned just as Poe finished tying the drawstring on his suit. He turned to look at Finn, giving him a nod before grinning and grabbing Finn’s hand and rocketing out the door with him.

 

As they arrived at the lake, Finn could see why Poe was so excited. Everyone was there, including Luke , who was grilling burgers on the dock. Han sat in a chair with Chewie, wet and sleeping under his feet, and Leia stood next to him, chatting to the staff bobbing in the lake water. Still holding Finn’s hand, Poe dashed to the water with a whoop, finally letting go when he took a running leap off the dock, splashing Jess. Finn laughed and hung his feet off the dock, nervously eyeing the cold, deep water. Poe’s head bobbed to the top and he smiled, shaking water from his curls. “Finn, you comin' in?” he asked, swimming closer.  
Finn shook his head. “No, thanks.”  
Thankfully, Poe didn’t ask any questions. He just nodded and took off, splashing Snap and Jess to instigate a water fight. Just then, someone tapped him on the shoulder. He looked up to see Luke and smiled.  
“Hey Finn, if you’re not getting in, mind helping with the food?” Luke asked, hopeful.  
“Oh, yeah, sure!” Finn said, scrambling from his place on the dock to join Luke at the grill. The smell of burgers put a smile on his face. Luke handed him the lettuce, tomatoes, and onions and asked him to cut them up for the burgers. Finn carried them over and began cutting up tomatoes.  
Soon after he began, Han joined him, Chewie at his heels. “Want some help here, kid?” he asked, sitting.  
“If you don’t mind, I do need to cut the onions and lettuce.”  
Han made a face. “Gimme the lettuce. Make an idiot cut the onions.”  
Finn laughed and slid him the lettuce. They worked in silence for about a minute before Han spoke up again. “You doing ok? The first few days can be… overwhelming,” said Han, eyeing Finn as he continued to chop.  
Finn smiled. “Yeah, it’s been fun! Everyone’s been so kind, I haven’t had any problems,” Finn conveniently left out his alarmingly overbearing crush he had on his bunkmate, which had grown considerably since meeting him.  
Han nodded. He paused for a moment. “You, uh, you haven’t met Ben, have you? My son?” he said, looking over at Finn.  
Finn paused in his work, mulling over the question. “Oh, Ben? Yeah, I, uh, I met him the other morning. He was… he was nice,” Finn decided lying was the best course of action.  
Han, however, caught him. He barked out a laugh. “You don’t have to lie, Finn. I know Ben’s an ass.”  
Finn stopped chopping, looking at Han in shock, causing the man to laugh more. Then he fell into silence, only speaking when he asked Finn to pass him the onions.

 

About twenty minutes later, Finn sat at a long picnic table next to Poe, plate in hand. Poe grinned around a mouthful of burger. He swallowed and said, “Long time no see, huh?”  
Finn shrugged and took a bite out of his own burger, enjoying Luke’s handiwork. Jess, Rey, and Snap soon joined them, and Ben, Hux, and Phasma sat a little further down. The adult leaders sat at a separate table.  
Poe clasped his hands together and pursed his lips. “So,” he said in a falsetto tone, “is everyone just so excited for day one of camp tomorrow?”  
Snap rolled his eyes. “I’m just glad I’m not paired with you anymore. It’s like being a counselor for one extra kid. Finn, my friend,” he said, pointing at Finn with a French fry, “good luck with this asshole,” he finished, taking a bite out of the fry. Poe threw a ketchup packet at him.  
Rey opened her mouth to say something, but was interrupted by a cough at the other end of the table. They all turned to look down the table and saw Ben, leaning over his food with malice in his eyes. “So Finn,” he started, making eye contact with him, “how much fun do you think the kids are gonna have when they find out you’re scared of water? I bet they’d get a laugh outta that.”  
“Back off, loser,” Rey said, leaning over the table to get into her cousin’s eye of sight.  
Ben gave Rey a withering look. “Rey, please, I’m just asking our new family member a question. Because that’s what he is, right? The new favorite?”  
Rey bristled, but before she could retort, Finn jumped in. “I’m not scared,” he said.  
Ben looked at him with interest. “No? Then why not join us for a swim? The water’s a bit cold, if that makes you… uncomfortable,” Ben smirked as he stood alongside Hux, peeling off his shirt.  
“C’mon, water looks great,” he called behind him.  
Finn stood, then felt someone grab his arm across the table. Rey. “You don’t have to,” she said, eyes full of nervousness.  
Finn pulled his arm from her grasp, forcing a laugh. “I’m fine. I’ll just hop in, prove them wrong, and leave. It’s fine,” he reassured her. He kicked his shoes under the table, but kept his shirt on. The situation was already mildly humiliating, he didn’t need everyone to see the ugly thing on his back as well. He walked to the end of the dock, where Ben and Hux were already treading water. He took a deep breath, then swung himself into the water.  
Cold.  
It was so cold.  
For a moment, Finn felt the ice creep into his lungs, the fear in his veins, the memories behind his eyes…  
But he didn’t go under.  
He allowed himself a smile of relief as his feet kicked, as he treaded water. He swam a little ways to the left so Rey could see him. He smiled at her and she smiled back, giving a thumbs up.  
He swam back to the boys, a smile of satisfaction on his face.  
Ben’s face twisted into a smirk. “Well alright then, Finn. I guess the kids will have to find something else to laugh at.”  
Hux rolled his eyes. “Whatever, Solo. It’s too fucking cold. I’m going in. Finn, you coming?”  
Finn nodded and followed the red haired boy, feeling happy at his little success. He was almost at the dock when he felt water fill his lungs and a hand on his ankle. Panic set in, and Finn began to thrash in the water. He saw dots fill his vision, his body was screaming for air, the hand had long left his ankle but Finn couldn’t find the surface. The screaming faded, and Finn’s vision got blurry. He barely even noticed the arms circling him, pulling him out of the water.  
Phasma carried Finn towards the shore, Ben trailing behind, attempting to excuse the prank, yelling about how it was just a joke, he didn’t think this would happen. He didn’t stop until Hux pulled him away.  
Phasma sat Finn down and he breathed in lungfulls of air, ignoring how dizzy he was becoming. She kept the concerned crowd at bay. “Give him space!” she shouted. Finn, suddenly conscious of the crowd, looked away, terrified to see the concern in Rey’s face, the confusion in Snap’s, Jessika's, Poe's… oh God, Poe. Poe was gonna ask questions. He was gonna want to know. Why didn’t he just swim up? Why did he freak out? Why was he scared? Finn felt like he was gonna be sick. He put his head between his legs. The voices of concern turned to static in his ears.

 

“Are you sure you’ll be up to tomorrow?” Rey asked as she walked Finn to his cabin from the medical room.  
Finn gave her a little smile. “Just a little water in my lungs. Nothing serious.”  
Rey still stared until Finn gave a little laugh. “I’m fine, Rey. If I recall, camp started with you making fun of me for worrying too much?”  
“Yes, and it almost ended with you drowning!” Rey spun in front of Finn, making him stop. “I mean Jesus, Finn! You could have died! Why didn’t you just tell them you don’t like the water?”  
Finn exhaled, shrugging. “I don’t know! I didn’t want to look stupid!” he shouted.  
“Well being stupid is better than being dead!” Rey shouted back. Tears welled in her eyes, and Finn suddenly felt an overwhelming sense of guilt.  
“Rey, I’m sorry. I- I was stupid, you’re right. I’m sorry, Rey, I swear. I’m just… I’m tired of people making me look stupid,” he said, pleading with her.  
Rey stared at him, then sniffled and pulled him into her arms. Finn held her tightly, feeling her tears against his shoulder. She sniffed again and he heard her, muffled against his chest. “Can I get a notarized copy of you admitting that you’re stupid?”  
Finn laughed and felt Rey shaking against him. She pulled away and wiped tears from her face. “Just promise me,” she said, “Promise me, Finn, that you won’t be that stupid again, ok?”  
Finn smiled and pulled her back in. “I promise.”

 

When Finn walked into his cabin, it was well past lights out, but Poe was sitting on his bed,stroking BB. He sat up straighter once he saw Finn. Finn walked over and sat down heavily on his bed. He opened his mouth to explain, but Poe cut him off. “You don’t have to tell me.”  
Finn looked up in shock. Poe was looking down at his hands. He glanced up, gauging Finn’s reaction. "Why you freaked out in the water? You don't have to tell me any of that shit," he clarified, then he cleared his throat. “We all have problems, fears, deep dark secrets, whatever the hell,” he waved his hands vaguely, “and you don’t need to spill your guts to me. You tell me if you want to, ok?” he finished, making eye contact with Finn.  
Finn felt his heart swell with gratitude. He nodded, and Poe gave him a little smile. “Alright, now that that’s out of the way,” Poe began as he reached behind BB, pulling out a little plate filled with cookies, “I brought you dessert. One benefit of this fiasco is that Luke was distracted enough that the one cookie rule was nullified,” he said, pulling a cookie before bringing the plate to Finn. Finn smiled and took a cookie, and he munched on it, trying to ignore the fluttering feeling yet again when Poe met his eye and winked.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's chapter 5 for you guys! Hope you enjoyed it, I liked writing this one. Next one's going to be way lighter though, so get ready for camp's favorite counselors!


	6. First S'mores of Camp

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poe eats way too many s'mores, and Rey knows too much.

“Today’s the day!”  
Finn jolted awake when he heard Poe yell, and immediately received a pillow to the face. He looked in the center of the room, where Poe was dancing like a maniac. Finn looked outside and saw it was still dark. He checked the clock. 4 AM? This had to be a dream. The Poe Dameron he knew grumbled every single time he suggested a morning jog. Finn groaned and covered his eyes.  
Soon, he felt a pressure on his chest. He uncovered his eyes and was rewarded with a full frontal view of BB, with Poe grinning in the background. “C’mon, Finn! We gotta get a head start! Don’t you wanna be the coolest counselors Camp Lightside has ever seen?” Poe asked. BB licked Finn’s face, and Finn groaned again.  
“Well,” Finn said, “I can’t get up, so you’re being a bit counterintuitive here.”  
Poe laughed and moved BB. “There, now go shower. You have some fox spit on your face.”

 

Finn stumbled into the mess hall behind Poe and saw that the other counselors were as awake as he was. He stepped into line and grabbed his breakfast, following Poe to a table. Finn plopped down next to Rey, who offered him a tired smile. So far, Poe’s chattering was the only sign of life in the crowded mess hall.  
Phasma later made the mistake of sitting by Poe. He turned to her with an excited grin. “Gooood morning, Phasma! Ready to show the new kids the ropes? Whip ‘em into shape? I’m just so excited, I hope the kids like me, do you guys think they’ll like m-,”  
Poe’s exited monologue was cut off with a loud, metallic thunk, and Rey, Finn, and Poe looked down to see that Phasma's spoon was no longer in her hand, but wedged into the wooden table. Calmly, Phasma cleared her throat and said, “Dameron, you have exactly six seconds to shut the fuck up. Do you understand.”  
The rest of breakfast passed in silence.  
Nobody was really able to explain the deformed spoon to Luke.

 

Despite his earlier annoyance at Poe’s excitement, Finn couldn’t help but feel the same apprehensiveness as he stood at the front of the camp beside Poe, clipboard in hand. Poe jangled the lanyards he held in his hands. “You ready?” he asked, nudging Finn with his shoulder.  
“Honestly?” he asked. Poe nodded. Finn looked back down on his clipboard at the list of ten names that he and Poe were in charge of for the next few weeks and shook his head. “Hell no.”  
Poe grinned. “That’s the spirit.”  
Soon enough, kids started flooding through the gates, luggage in tow, shooting nervous glances at each other, the counselors, everything. Finn smiled despite himself. They were pretty cute. Poe began bouncing on the balls of his feet. “Look! Here comes one! One of our kids! Oh god, smile Finn, am I smiling? I think I’m-”  
“Poe.”  
“Sorry.”

 

Half an hour later, Finn checked off the last name on the list as Poe looped the camper's lanyard over her head. Poe stood back and admired their charges. He smiled wide. “Hi guys! I’m Poe, and this is Finn, and we’re gonna be taking care of you and making sure you have a great time at Camp Lightside! Are you guys ready to have fun?”  
The kids cheered, and Finn laughed at not only their excitement, but Poe’s as well. “Alright, well let’s take you all up to your cabins. If the girls will come with me, the boys can follow Poe,” Finn said, waving a hand. Dutifully, the girls followed, and Poe followed the path to the other side.  
Once the front of the camp was out of sight, one of the girls tugged on his hand. “Finn?”  
Finn looked down at the brown haired little girl. “Yes…” he looked at her name tag, “Daisy?”  
She grinned at him, showing off missing teeth. “Is Poe your boyfriend?”  
Finn’s stomach fluttered. “Uh… no… no he’s um, he’s just my friend.” She nodded, but Finn remained curious. “Daisy… why did you think he was my boyfriend?”  
She shrugged. “He looks at you like my sister looks at her boyfriend.” She ran off to join the other girls at the steps of the cabin, oblivious to the fact that she had practically made his heart stop.

 

“Welcome, all campers!”  
The counselors cheered along with the campers as Leia stood before the bonfire. Poe had explained to Finn that the tradition at this camp was that they only made s'mores twice during camp: once at the beginning of camp, and once more at the end. Finn thought it was weirdly poetic. Poe thought it was dumb, claiming that he’d eat s’mores every day of his life if he could survive like that.  
Leia waited with a smile for the cheers to die down. “Welcome to the first bonfire of Camp Lightside. This is where you’ll make your first s’mores of camp. This is where the memories, the friendships, and the joys of camp begin,” she smiled wider as excited murmurs passed around the fire. “I hope all of you, new campers and returning friends alike, enjoy this summer at Camp Lightside!” She finished her speech and the crowd of kids erupted, excited from her speech and also from the promise of s'mores.  
The counselors stood with the kids, equally as excited for s’mores as their campers were. Poe walked over with Snap and Jess, gesturing wildly. Finn chuckled quietly, then turned when he felt someone tap his shoulder. Rey stood behind him. “You ready for the first s’mores of camp? I hear they go really well with coffee creamer,” she said with a smirk.  
Finn rolled his eyes. “Hilarious. You ever thought about doing standup?” he teased as he walked toward the line with her.  
She gave him a serious look. “I’d love to, but I got that bad knee, y'know,” she smiled at her own joke, while Finn cupped his hands around his mouth to boo her. She waved him off, laughing, as they stood in line.  
Finn could still hear Poe’s voice from the back of the line. He craned his neck and saw his ebony curls bouncing wildly as he told Jess and Snap his story. He smiled to himself and turned back toRey, only to find her staring at him, a smile on her face as well. “What?” Finn asked, stuffing his hands into his pockets.  
Rey scoffed and punched him on the shoulder (what was it with Skywalkers and punching?). Finn flinched and rubbed his shoulder. “Please!” she said, eyeing him. “As if I didn’t just see you mooning over camp’s favorite flyboy?”  
Finn pretended to be shocked. “What? No, I was just curious about the story-”  
“You two have been together all day. You’re probably part of it.”  
Finn sputtered, but couldn’t formulate a response. Rey stood there, hands on her hips. Finally, he  
couldn’t take it anymore. “Okay fine!” he whispered, not wanting to draw attention to himself. “He’s… cute.”  
Rey whooped and Finn hushed her immediately. She grinned. “You guys are so cute! Aww, summer camp romance! Aunt Leia will be thrilled!”  
Finn’s eyes went wide. “Don’t you dare!”  
Rey made a face. “Who’s gonna stop me?”  
Finn copied her face. “Your dad, once he hears you’re head over heels for your co-counselor.”  
Rey wound up to punch him again, but was stopped by Poe clapping Finn on the shoulder, s’more materials in hand. “Hurry up, Finn! I wanna do first s’mores with you!” he said before running off towards the fore. Finn smiled and turned around, only to be met by Rey’s shit-eating grin.  
“Fuck off, Skywalker.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok real talk this entire chapter was kind of built off of the little camper asking if Finn and Poe were boyfriends. Also I got the scene with Phasma lodging a fucking spoon into a goddamn table into my head and honestly I thought it was too fucking funny. And yes, I am going to name the campers after the cast because I can and I want to.   
> Next chapter should be up next week, I may try to double/triple post if I can get inspired because I'm going out of town again soon and I know I won't be able to write for a week. Hopefully I'll see you guys then!


	7. Giants at Camp

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Day one goes down with little incident.

“Okay, gentle, gentle… we don’t want glitter all over your nice new sneakers, do we, Luke?”  
The boy scrunched up his face at the thought of being covered in glitter, and Finn grinned as he guided Luke’s hand to carefully sprinkle glitter on his sign. Soon, with Finn’s help, Luke’s name on his poster was covered in blue glitter. The boy grinned and laughed at the sight. “Thank you, Finn!” he said, clapping his hands.  
“You’re welcome, Luke! Your cabin sign looks great,” he responded before standing from his hunched position over the craft table, stretching his back. Finn looked around the craft cabin, smiling at the varying signs around the cabin. The kids were making signs with their names to put on their cabin doors, and he had seen quite a wide variety of designs. The instruction had been for the campers to add something they liked to the sign so other campers could get to know them, and so far, Finn had seen sports, space, flowers, and, in one kid’s case, a can of Coke. That one was… unexpected. His eyes searched a bit more before he found Poe. His head was bowed over the table, tongue between his lips. Finn felt the heat rise in his face. Holy moly, he was too cute. Poe Dameron would be his cause of death, Finn was sure of that.  
Poe looked up and caught Finn’s eye and beckoned him over, a mischievous grin on his face. Finn rolled his eyes and pretended to be annoyed, but walked over to him nonetheless, checking on campers on the way. He got to Poe’s chair and nudged him. “Y’know, we’re supposed to be helping the kids. I don’t want glitter all over this floor,”  
Poe looked sheepish. “I just thought… we deserved our own cabin signs?” he said, producing two matching signs with their respective names.  
Finn smiled. He looked at the pictures Poe had chosen for their “likes”. “Okay, so a plane for you, running shoes for me… did you draw yourself on my sign?” he asked, laughing.  
Poe laughed with him. “Well, yeah, you like me, dontcha? Plus, I put you on my sign, so I figured it was only fair,” he pointed at the little cartoon Finn on his sign.  
Finn put his hands on his heart and pretended to swoon. “Who? Me? As one of your likes? Why, Poe, you shouldn’t have,” he smiled at Poe, but then his face took on a worried expression.  
Poe’s smile dropped. “What’s wrong?”  
Finn raised an eyebrow. “Nothing, it’s just… how do you think BB’s gonna feel without her own sign?”  
Poe’s eyes widened. He put down the two other signs and grabbed a third sheet of paper, sketching immediately. Finn laughed and walked back towards the kids, the image of himself on Poe’s sign etched into his mind.

 

Later, Poe and Finn watched as their kids lined up in front of Phasma for their harnesses. Despite her harsh attitude towards, well, everyone, she was incredibly gentle and patient with the campers. The kids didn’t seem daunted by her size either.  
Poe looked at the schedule. “After this, we get a break,” he said, tilting his head back. “Thank God. I need a nap before dinner.”  
“Is dinner really that draining for you, Poe?”  
Poe swatted Finn with the clipboard. “Ha ha. Today’s been a long day. I need this.”  
Poe was right. It was the first day, and they had been up since 5 am. They had played soccer, made crafts, made lunch, and even caught a few fish. Now, they watched their campers scale the massive rock wall, Phasma not far behind.  
Finn looked over at Poe. “Is there anything after dinner?’  
“Nope! Free time. The kids can go write letters to their families, counselors head up some extra sports too. You like ultimate frisbee?” Poe asked, grinning.  
Finn snorted. “Berkley has an Ultimate team. Bring it flyboy.”

 

Finn may have been good at Ultimate, but the kids didn’t fare so well, which is why he was sitting with teary eyed little Natalie in the infirmary. She sniffled as the nurse gathered supplies for her scrapes, and Finn squeezed her hand. When the nurse cleaned Natalie’s wounds with peroxide, she leaned into him, and he hugged her close.   
As they walked to the trail leading back to the common area, Finn leaned down. “Would it make you feel better if I made you a giant?”  
Natalie sniffed and rubbed her eyes. “I can’t be a giant, I’m too little.”  
Finn put his hands on his hips. “Sure you can! Just close your eyes.”  
Natalie looked at him doubtfully before sighing and squeezing her eyes shut. Finn smiled and crept up behind her. Then, he lifted her and put her on his shoulders. She squealed and giggled, and he laughed along with her. They walked down the trail together, with her pointing out birds and squirrels in the trees.  
As they approached the other campers, Natalie shouted, “Look everyone, I’m a giant!”  
The kids went wild. As soon as Finn had put Natalie down, he was swarmed by other campers, begging for their turn. Finn tried to quell the storm of requests, but relief only came when another voice spoke up.   
“I can give some of you rides!”  
Finn looked up to see Poe smiling down on the eager kids. He looked up and made eye contact with Finn, and Finn smiled gratefully at him. Poe lifted the first kid and began spinning around, generating shrieks of joy. Finn copied his actions. The two spun kids around in the fields until it was time to go to the cabins, giants silhouetted by the sunset.

 

Poe flopped down onto his bed, bringing BB in with him after their evening stroll. Finn watched him and grinned lazily. Poe smiled back at him. “Thanks for taking care of Natalie today, buddy,” Poe said.   
“Thanks for helping me with playing with the kids. I should’ve known better then to come in with Natalie on her shoulders,” Finn replied. “I just wanted to make her feel better.”  
Poe chuckled softly. “You’re really good with kids, dude. I might rope you into permanent infirmary duty.”  
“Don’t you dare, asshole.”  
Poe scoffed. “That is foul language not suitable for a camp counselor, Finn!” He laughed and sat up and took off his shirt. “Aren’t you hot?”  
Finn shook his head, avoiding looking at Poe.   
Poe shrugged and stood up to turn off the light. “Well, day one, finished. Well done, Trooper.”  
“Same to you, Dameron.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know this chapter's super short, sorry! I wanted to get one in before I left, but I'm going to try to write a chapter while I'm away.


	8. These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finn plays favorites, mail gets delivered, and two pilots hatch a plan.

The end of Finn’s first week of summer camp found him lying in bed on a Saturday night, musing over his favorite things. Before arriving at Camp Lightside, Finn had a definitive list of favorites: Rey, Luke, running, and pancakes. Now, his list had some changes. First of all, he hated pancakes now because some kid ate too many at breakfast the first day and vomited all over everyone. Nobody came near the pancakes now, much to Luke’s dismay.

Second, he still loved his morning runs. But he had some new activities to add to the list. Rock climbing, for one. Phasma insisted they give it a shot after the kids went to bed, and Finn found a strange sense of exhilaration at the feeling of moving from one grip to another, finding footholds in secret places. He also added the nighttime hangouts with the counselors each night once they were free. They sat in a circle in someone’s cabin, swapping stories and eating snacks stolen from the kitchen (Luke knew, but it was more fun to sneak in there after hours). And then something unexpected: Han’s stories became one of the high points of his day. The grumpy uncle Finn had met upon arriving had been mysteriously replaced by some kind old grandfather who smiled at the kids and told them stories and let them snuggle with Chewie as much as they wanted. 

There were more people to add to the list, too. Rey and Luke still reigned supreme for keeping him alive, but Han’s jokes and Leia’s kindness had earned them pretty high rankings. Phasma was up there too, for teaching him how to climb and saving him from the water. And of course, Snap and Jess, the two goofballs who could always make him laugh hard enough that tears sprang from his eyes.

And Poe.

Poe was different from the rest of them, though. Finn had never imagined he could like someone so completely. His smile and laugh, the way his curls bounced back after he shook water from them, his expressive eyes, the smell of his leather jacket, the way he listened to the kids with real interest, they all made Finn smile unfailingly. 

Finn was still hopelessly dreaming about Poe when something hard bounced off his forehead and onto his pillow. He tilted his head and saw the glimmer of a penny, then turned to his bunkmate with a raised eyebrow. Poe was propped up on one elbow, watching Finn with a smile. When Finn held up the penny, Poe nodded. “For your thoughts, my friend,” he said, grinning even wider when Finn rolled his eyes.

Finn tossed the penny back to Poe. “I dunno, just thinking about my first week at camp. It’s been a blur.”

“Well, this is my… I don’t know how long I’ve been doing this to be honest, but just to let you know, that never changes.”

“Oh thanks, yeah, that’ll be good to know next year.”

Poe jolted up higher in his bed. “You already think you’re gonna come back?”

Finn shrugged. “Yeah, I mean, I love it. I just hope I get a new co-counselor.”

Poe threw another pair of socks at Finn and Finn laughed. “You know, buddy, You keep throwing socks at me you’re not gonna have any left.”

Poe slid out of his bed and ran across the room, pouncing on top of Finn to grab his socks. Finn laughed even harder and moved them just out of Poe’s grasp. Suddenly, with a triumphant noise, Poe pinned Finn to the bed, grinning before snatching his socks back. Finn grinned back, but his smile faded once he fully registered the position he was in: on his bed, under Poe, watching as Poe also recognized the situation. They sat like that for what seemed like an eternity, Finn’s heart pounding in his chest, before Poe barked out a laugh and rolled off of him to return to his bed. “Thanks for the socks, Trooper,” he said, smiling. Finn smiled back, but his heart remained frantic.

Poe fell onto his bed and pulled his blankets over his legs, careful not to disturb BB any more, and Finn rolled away to face the window and watch the stars, unaware of the eyes watching his back.

  
  
  
  


In the morning, Finn made his way up to the office to collect mail for the campers. Sunday was mail day, and kids would be receiving letters from their parents and friends back home. Finn had drawn the short straw, and now he was on his way to the big log cabin in the center of camp.

He pushed open the door and was greeted by a squawking sound. He jumped in surprise before locating the source of the sound. A little golden bird sat perched in a cage, next to a cage with a large blue lizard. Finn walked up to the desk and stared at the animals. “Hi guys, you got mail for me?”

“I beg your pardon?”

Finn started again, taken aback that the bird had given an actual response, before he began to laugh. “Oh, so you talk, birdie?”

“Indeed,” the bird responded, tilting its head.

Finn smiled. “So articulate. You have a name?”

“His name is Threepio.”

Finn turned and saw Ben closing the door to the back office, toting a box. “You came for mail, right?” 

Finn nodded and Ben brought up the box. He set it down and opened the cage with the lizard. “This little guy is Artoo. They belong to my mom and uncle, but they were from my grandfather.”

“Anakin Skywalker.”

Ben gave a terse nod and returned Artoo to the cage before fixing Finn with a look. “Look, I know what I did was shitty. I shouldn’t have been so… childish,” Ben had a look of disgust at that word, “so I’m sorry. I’m not trying to be friends or anything. Just wanted to say… yeah, that I’m sorry, that’s all,” Ben finished and looked away, pushing the box of mail towards Finn. “Take that away, will you? Hux has reorganized it five times already and it’s getting on my nerves.”

  
  
  
  


Once the final letter left the mail box, Finn’s list of favorites had expanded to add the look of joy the kids had upon getting letters. He grinned and made his way over to the counselor table where everyone else had been eating while he delivered. He sat down next to Rey, and immediately a plate was placed in front of him. He gave her a grin and dug in, thankful that she had left the pancakes off. 

“How was mail duty?” she asked.

Finn finished chewing and swallowed. “I liked it. The kids get so happy when they get mail.” He looked around the table. “Where’s Poe?”

Rey raised an eyebrow. “What, you’re not keeping good tabs on your boyfriend?” She laughed at the glare Finn shot her over his breakfast. “He volunteered to help dad in the kitchen. How’s all that going, by the way? Made any progress in… I dunno, wooing him?”

Finn choked on his eggs, earning a laugh from Rey. He shook his head. “No, I dunno, I feel like he’s way out of my league, y’know? What about you?”

Rey rolled her eyes. “Oh yeah. We’ve actually rescued a cat and gotten an apartment, and next week I’m going to her house to meet her parents.”

Finn wrinkled his nose and Rey stuck out her tongue, but both soon turned their attention back to their breakfasts, preoccupied with their respective dilemmas.

  
  
  
  


Further down the table, Snap and Jess watched Finn and Rey talk. Jess sighed. "You think she knows?"

Snap shrugged. "Can't say, Pava. She seems to really like you."

Jess snorted. "Half the time she barely talks to me."

"Maybe she's nervous."

"Or maybe she hates me."

"Jess-"

Jess waved Snap off. "It's fine. She's just... she's just another girl."

Snap stared at Jess. "You're a terrible liar."

"I know."

Snap snorted and patted the girl's hand. She smiled at him before turning her attention back to Rey and Finn. "What about Finn and Poe? You think..."

"Oh those two dorks are so in love, it makes me sick," he said, shaking his head.

Jess laughed. "Wonder when Poe's gonna pull his head out his ass and see it," she said.

Snap looked at Jess. "Jess, when, in the years you've known Poe Dameron, has he ever pulled his head out of his ass?"

Jessika's brow furrowed. "Oh shit, you're right," she said before she looked at Snap. "We gotta do that rom-com thing, Snap, the thing where the friends give the protagonists the little push they need towards their fairytale wedding."

Snap huffed. "You assume I've seen rom-coms?"

Jess grinned at Snap before echoing his earlier words.

"You're a terrible liar."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello! Sorry for the slight delay, just had a bit of writer's block! This chapter was fun to write, so I hope y'all like it. As always, comments and kudos make my day, every day! I love you guys!


	9. Making Plans

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Luke somehow becomes an unwilling player in the dramatics of Camp Lightside. Good thing Han brought booze.

Luke sat down heavily on a milk crate and rubbed his face. Dinner cleanup had just ended, and Luke was exhausted. He swore each year that the kids ate more and more, despite his belief that it was no longer possible. He was pulled out of his thoughts of ravenous children by a gentle knock on the door. He looked up to see his daughter, accompanied by Poe's friends, Snap and Jess. He gave them a tired smile. "Hey, kids! What're you doing here?" he asked, checking his watch. "It's your free time, don't you wanna... I dunno, have fun?"

Rey smiled and pulled out a milk crate to sit on. Jess pulled one close to Rey, and Snap leaned against the fridge. Rey picked at her fingernails. "Actually, dad, we're here to ask a favor," she said, stealing a glance at his face, a sly smile on her lips.

Luke knew that smile. It was the: _I know you won't say no to this, but you're gonna hate this_ smile.  Best to proceed with caution. He nodded at her to continue.

Rey looked at her friends and giggled a bit. "We're trying to... set up... Finn and Poe..." she trailed off, gauging her father's reaction.

Luke rolled his eyes. "No."

"Dad!"

"Look, Finn and Poe's relationship status is none of my business. Why can't you guys take care of them?"

"We're too busy, Mr. Skywalker," Jess jumped in. "With all of the stuff we have to do, we can't watch them all the time!"

Luke gave her an incredulous look. "You think I'm not busy, feeding you little food pits?"

"No, dad, that's not it, we know you're busy,  _but,_ " Rey gestured to the kitchen, "wouldn't it be  _awfully_ convenient if they always had kitchen duty together? Spend some time with each other?"

"They spend the whole day with each other, Rey."

Rey scoffed. "Yeah, it's really romantic, y'know. Just Finn, Poe, and the kids that they have to take care of for the rest of this camp."

"Yeah, well, if they're in here, the atmosphere is way better. Nothing sets the mood quite like organizing a pantry. I've heard the scent of Lysol is an aphrodisiac."

" _Dad."_

Luke looked at the pleading faces before him and sighed. "If I assign them kitchen duty on Friday night, will you leave me and those boys alone?" The trio nodded eagerly. Wearily, Luke stood. "Fine. Now get out. Your old dad needs some rest."

Rey kissed his cheek. "You're the best, dad."

Luke shook his hand in a shooing motion. "Get out of here, all of you."

"Can we have cookies?"

" _Out."_

 

 

 

 

When Friday night rolled around, Luke felt like he was about to rip off his beard. The entire day, Rey had been shooting him thumbs up and wiggling her eyebrows, much to the confusion of literally everyone else at the camp. Luke tugged at said beard, considering the consequences of removing it with his bare hands.  _What does she even want me to do? I'm an adult, I can't be setting up kids, what would Leia-oh God, Leia can never find out about this._

Luke tried to push all thoughts of Rey's plot from his mind as her two targets came through the door, smiling. Poe stopped dead in the doorway and held his hand up in salute. "I'm prepared to serve, sir," he said in a serious tone. His face was straight, but Luke saw mischief glimmering in his eyes.

Luke snorted and threw a towel at him. "Well, since you don't know how to peel potatoes, apparently-" Poe blushed and grinned, and Finn snickered,"- you two are on dish duty. I'll be in the back getting stuff ready for tomorrow. I expect those plates to be sparkling, got that?"

Poe nodded. "Aye aye, cap'n." He attempted to sling the dish towel over his shoulder, but ended up slapping himself in the face with it instead.

Luke gave an exasperated sigh. "Finn's in charge!" he called behind him as he headed towards the back of the kitchen.

Finn's face morphed into a satisfied smirk as Poe gaped at him. "What?" Poe cried, walking towards the sink. "I'm older!"

"Is that why you're whining like a baby?" Finn asked before gasping at the strike of the dish towel against his arm.

"Hush, Trooper."

The two began working, falling into a comfortable rhythm, occasionally exchanging jokes or thoughts on the kids in their care. After a few minutes of work, Poe gave Finn a nervous glance. "Do you, uh, do you know about tomorrow?"

Finn gave Poe a weird look, then glanced at his watch. "Yeah, it'll be here in about 4 hours, why?"

"I'm serious, Finn."

Finn gave Poe a worried look. "What is it? Is it some sort of weird ass camp ritual?"

Poe shook his head. "It's, um, a tradition. We're officially halfway through camp, right?" 

"Yeah?"

"So, traditionally, all the counselors, um, we all, uh-"

"Spit it out, Dameron."

"We skinny dip. At midnight. In the lake."

Finn felt a shock to his system. He almost dropped the plate he was washing. He was acutely aware of Poe watching him from the corner of his eye. Finn couldn't believe his bad luck. Skinny dipping. It combined two of his least favorite things: water, and exposure. It was enough that everyone knew he was terrified of the water, he didn't need to bring any more of his tragic backstory into the camp. He was so caught up in his own train of thought that he only caught the back half of Poe's sentence. 

"... stay with you, no problem."

"What?"

Poe looked up at Finn, staring before he cleared his throat. "You don't have to go. It's not a big deal. And, if you want me to, if you need me to stay with you in the cabin or whatever, we can do that. It's no problem." Poe redirected his attention back to his dish. 

Finn's head reeled. Of course he didn't want to go. But on the other hand, he felt unbelievably guilty at the prospect of keeping Poe from Lightside traditions. Poe looked up at Finn again. "Buddy?"

Finn looked at Poe. His deep brown eyes caught Finn off guard. The usually mischievous eyes were searching, anxious, concerned.  _For who?_ Finn thought.  _Me?_

Finn dropped his attention back to washing. "I-I'll think about it."

Poe stared at him before nodding and turning back to his work, but Finn could still feel the the tension, heavy in the air. 

"It's because of my brother."

Poe looked up in surprise at the non-sequitur. Finn kept his eyes on the suds in the sink. "My older brother, he was huge. His real name was Nathan, but we called him Nines because he was born at nine pounds. I don't think my mom ever recovered. But, anyway, he was massive. Big and strong, just like the nice brothers you read about in stories. But Nines... Nines hated me. He always felt like I was trying to show him up, when all I wanted was for him and my parents to feel proud. My parents never really paid attention, but Nines would 'punish' me for being so... self centered." Finn focused on a bubble in the middle of the suds, watching light make strange colors along the surface of the bubble. "One day in middle school, I came home with my report card. I wasn't even trying to show anyone, I didn't want them to see that I had all A's. But Nines found it in my room and lost it. He dragged me out to the pond by our house and held me down underwater. I'll never forget it. I remember looking at him through the water and seeing how distorted his face was and thinking it was an improvement." Finn laughed bitterly and popped the bubble. 

He felt a warm pressure on his other hand and looked down. The first thing he noticed was that he was gripping the edge of the sink so hard that his knuckles were white. The second was Poe's hand atop his. He looked up at Poe and saw the concern again, concern for him, for his problems, and Finn almost began laughing. Poe was still here. After he heard all of that fucked up shit. He was still here. Finn was still marveling over Poe's compassion when he was pulled into a hug. He rested his head on Poe's shoulder, feeling his body heat through his t-shirt. They were so close that Finn felt Poe's chest vibrate against his when he next spoke. "Let's go get Phasma and kick his ass."

Finn couldn't help it. Despite the tears gathering in his eyes he burst out laughing at the thought of his older brother being held upside down by the most terrifying woman he had ever met. "That's the best thing  I've thought about all day."

Poe pulled away and looked Finn in the eye seriously. "Well then, you haven't been thinking about me enough. That's a problem."

Finn rolled his eyes and pushed Poe's face away, wiping a hand over his eyes. "Let's finish these dishes before Luke comes out and kicks our asses."

Poe nodded in agreement. "Thank you, by the way. For telling me."

"Thank you for listening."

 

 

 

Luke came from the back to find the two in stitches, facing the sink. "What the hell are you two clowns laughing at?"

Finn and Poe turned around, each sporting matching soap beards. Poe gave him a goofy grin. "We finished the dishes, Uncle Luke, but there were all these soap suds left!"

"We couldn't let them go to waste," Finn agreed.

"There are children in Africa who would kill for soap suds like these," Poe quipped, sending Finn into another round of laughter.

Luke grinned despite himself. "You two are a mess. Clean yourselves up and go put your kids to bed." He tossed a towel to them.

Poe wiped off his suds and handed the towel to Finn before getting an impish grin on his face. "So, uh, Uncle Luke, whaddya think of that girl, Jess Pava?"

Luke shrugged, caught off guard by the question. "She's... nice, I suppose. She tells good jokes. Why?" Luke really hoped Poe wasn't going to make a move on that girl. That would definitely throw a wrench into Rey's plans.

Poe's grin grew wider. He grabbed the towel from Finn and tossed it back to Luke before he began leading Finn to the door. "Oh, nothing much, your daughter's just head over heels for her. Night!" he exclaimed cheerily as he sped out the door with Finn. Luke heard Finn's laugh echoing down the hallway as the duo walked away. Luke backed up and sat down on the same milk crate where this mess all started. 

Just then, Leia burst through the door. "Have you seen my son? Or Hux?" Luke gave her an exasperated look and she huffed. "I didn't lose him, the two of them are hiding. I think those two are hooking up."

Luke began laughing. Leia glared at him with her hands on her hips. "What is so funny?"

Luke just buried his head in his hands. He heard his sister mutter something under her breath before walking away. "If you see them, let me know so I can kill them!"

"Will do," was Luke's response, muffled by his hands. He heard the kitchen door open, and he heard Leia exchange a few words with Han. The door shut, and Luke heard footsteps approaching him. He looked up to see Han standing above him, bourbon and glasses in hand. Silently, he sat down on the adjacent milk crate and poured two glasses. Each man took a glass and drank deeply. Leia found them there later, two vexed fathers sitting silently on milk crates, drinking booze and contemplating the nightmare that was young love.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter done! I'm gonna try to wrap up soon, as band camp starts reaaaallly soon and I won't be able to write much. I also highkey want to write a Holtzbert fic after this one's all done/when I have time so stay tuned for that nonsense. I love you guys! Your comments and kudos make my life so much better.


	10. Skin to Skin, Heart to Heart

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Poe and Finn get physically and emotionally close, and Phasma become Dr. Phill. Also, Hux glows.

"Finn, are you sure?"

Finn glared at Rey over his mac and cheese. "Hey, do you remember the car ride here when I kept asking  _you_ the same question? Remember how annoying that was?"

Rey threw her napkin at him. "I'm serious. You hate water. And what about the whole... back thing?" Rey leaned across the dinner table. "Poe said he'd stay with you, hell, I'll stay with you. Why are you being such a stubborn ass about this?"

Finn raised an eyebrow at Rey. "What, you'd miss your chance to see Jess naked, for me? I didn't think you cared that much!"

Rey swatted his hand, blush taking over her features. "Don't joke about this, Finn! What about your 'no more stupid' promise?"

"This isn't stupid!"

"It's unbelievably stupid."

"I don't know what you two are arguing about, but I agree with Rey," Poe interjected, taking his seat next to Finn. 

"Rey doesn't want me to go tonight," Finn explained.

Poe shrugged as he picked up his Sloppy Joe. "Can't help you. I actually do agree with her on this one," Poe said before taking a bite of his sandwich.

"Exactly. Finn, why are you so intent on going?"

Finn sighed, looking down at his plate. "I dunno, I want to be part of normal camp stuff! And I don't want to disrupt tradition. I'll be fine," Finn finished before taking a bite of mac and cheese, repeating the idea that he would be fine in his head.

 

 

 

Despite Poe's anxiety over Finn's attendance at the "dip", Finn could feel excitement rolling off Poe in waves as they made their way down the path to the lake. It was dark, the only light came from the moon and Poe's flashlight. As they got closer, the two could hear more voices and Finn's heart rate increased. How many people was he exposing himself to tonight?

They got to the dock and Finn let out a breath that he didn't know he'd been holding in. It was so dark. You could barely tell who was who in the water. Finn allowed himself a smile. That helped his self-consciousness. Not by much, but it was something.

Poe let out a whoop and began undressing. Finn laughed at his excitement, and Poe turned to him as he peeled off his shirt. "You coming?" Poe asked, clapping him on the shoulder.

Finn gave a nervous laugh. "Just gimme a sec."

Poe smiled. "You got it buddy!" Then, without prelude, Poe dropped his pants and ran straight into the water, and Finn was sure that his face was hot enough to cause a fire.

Finn sat down at a picnic table and took a few breaths, trying to calm himself. He felt someone sit by him and tap his shoulder. He looked up to see Phasma offering a flask, a sympathetic look in her eyes. Finn took the flask and took a grateful swig, trying not to grimace at the sudden taste of whiskey. Not his drink of choice, but hey, it was alcohol. He handed the flask back to Phasma, who took a drink herself before putting it away. "I always need some kind of booze before shit like this," she said as she placed it on the table. "Saw you over here, figured we may be the same."

Finn chuckled. "Dunno. Never done shit like this."

Phasma nodded. "What's your deal? Is it the water thing, or something else?"

Finn felt apprehensive about spilling his guts, so he deflected. "What's yours?"

Phasma looked at him in shock, then laughed quietly. "Fair enough," she said, pulling up her shirt just enough for Finn to see a large scar spanning across her lower ribcage. "I got shot. Not in combat, if you can believe it, but I was mugged." She pulled her shirt down, smiling at the irony. "The bullet broke up, so when the doctors had to dig it out, it got a lot uglier than a bullet wound normally is. I still get self conscious about it, like all the time, even when people cant see it. But, when I told one of the other marines about my scar, he told me something I always think about. Scars aren't something to be ashamed of. They let people know that you've survived some tough shit. That you were tried by life and you made it through in one piece." Phasma sighed. "It kinda sounds like bullshit, I know."

Finn shook his head. "No, I... I like it." He reached for the flask and took another drink before clearing his throat. "I have a, uh, scar, across my back. It's ugly, really ugly. It's from before I was in the system. My dad, my real dad, was an alcoholic. I honestly can't remember him sober. He was always either drunk or hungover, and when he was drunk, he was angry all the time, no matter what. Usually I could avoid him. I kept food in my room so I wouldn't risk crossing his path or seeing him when he was mad. But one day," Finn took a shuddering breath, "one day I came home from school and he was already drunk off his ass. He started yelling at me about being 'ungrateful', and he went on for a bit before he actually came at me with a knife. I don't think I'll ever run as fast as I did that day, but it wasn't fast enough. He couldn't stab me or anything serious, but he managed to get me on my back before he tripped. That was the last time I saw him, and now I have this big ugly thing on my back, left shoulder to right hip, to remember him by." 

Phasma stared at him and silently passed the flask to him again, but Finn refused, so Phasma took a swig herself and stood, offering her hand to Finn. "Let's go. Together. Scar buddies." Phasma gave him a smile, which Finn returned. They pulled off their clothes and ran towards the inky water, jumping off the dock in sync. 

Poe jumped in seconds later and soaked Finn. He popped up from under the water and turned to face Finn, joy evident in his face despite the minimal lighting. "Buddy! You did it!"

Finn laughed lightly, now hyper-aware of the fact that he was actually naked. Like, full on naked. Next to the guy he'd been pining after since camp started. Who was also naked. "Yeah, y'know, it's too dark to see anything, right?"

Poe wiggled his eyebrows and dropped his voice. "That's what I told Rey, but she still won't make a mov- hey!" Poe exclaimed as a torrent of water came over him. Rey laughed behind him, indicating that she still heard him.

Finn, despite all of his self consciousness, laughed along with his friends and joined them. He still felt aware of the scar on his back, but for the first time in his life, the weight of his father wasn't present alongside it.

 

 

 

 

It was beyond late by the time Finn and Poe began walking back to the cabins. Both were now fully clothed, in case of kid encounters, and the two were swapping jokes about how Hux was so pale he seemed to glow in the moonlight. They walked into their cabin, where BB wagged her tail at them, but didn't bother getting up from her warm spot on Poe's bed. The two boys changed out of their clothes and crawled into their beds after exchanging sleepy goodnights, exhausted from the night's activities.

 

 

 

 

_Finn was running._

_He was running so fast, he felt the blood pumping in his ears, the long grass tickling his calves. He didn't have to look behind him to know Papa was close by, the heavy breathing all the indication he needed. Finn swallowed, fear gripping his heart as he ran down the dirt road. The heavy breathing grew louder, accompanied by the unmistakable scent of moonshine, and Finn felt the first kiss of the blade, the tearing of his shirt, the prick, and something besides sweat was running down his back, he felt his back tear in two, he heard Papa yelling but he kept going, he kept going, he had to keep going, he ha-_

"FINN!"

Finn startled awake, heart pounding. He blinked back tears. He hadn't had that dream in years. Talking about it with Phasma, that must've brought some stuff up. Finn was still trying to even out his breathing when he felt a tentative touch on his arm. Finn jolted and looked to the side to see Poe kneeling by his bed.  Finn's breath caught in his throat. Poe looked at him in concern. "Sorry, I didn't wanna scare you but you were just, uh, you were breathing really hard in your sleep and I didn't want you to die or nothing," Poe said in a rush.

Finn breathed in, trying to calm down before he spoke again, but the breath caught and became a sob, and Finn felt the tears he had tried to hold spring free. In a flash, Poe was in Finn's bed, holding him close as he cried. Finn clung to Poe, the only concrete thing he had. Poe sat stoic, body warm against Finn's. After a while, Finn pulled away and wiped his eyes, but Poe still kept his hands on him, grounding him. Finn sighed. "Sorry, I, sorry. I had a nightmare."

The silence seemed to stretch before them, then Poe spoke. "Was it, was it about your dad?"

Finn's head shot up, confusion in his eyes, and Poe looked away, sheepishly. "I came up to where you were sitting, I saw Phasma had booze and I wanted in. I came up behind you though, you didn't see me. I, um, I heard the whole thing."

Finn's heart sank. This isn't how he wanted Poe to find out. He didn't want Poe to find out at all. "Do you wanna see it?" he asked quietly.

Poe looked up in shock and Finn began taking off his shirt. Earlier, during skinny dipping, it wasn't like this. It was dark. It was crowded. Everyone was too focused on their own flaws to notice him. But this, this was one of the most intimate things Finn had ever done. He pulled his shirt over his head and turned so Poe could see. Twisted across his back, a reminder of Papa, one he couldn't sell or give away. A father's love is forever, Finn thought bitterly.

He heard Poe's sharp gasp at the sight of the ugly thing, and Finn felt shame. "It's bad. I know. It wasn't just my brother that fucked me up. It was a family activity," Finn said with a bitter laugh.

Finn felt Poe's weight leave the bed and Finn turned in confusion. Poe was standing practically as far away from Finn as he could, back to him, shoulders tense. Finn shot off his bed in shock and fear. "Poe?" No response from the older boy. Finn looked down at his feet. "Sorry. I know you probably didn't imagine camp like this. You have a basket case for a co-counselor and I can't do anything for you, you've done so much and I keep asking for more and I'm so sorry, Poe, you deserved so much more. I shouldn't have bothered with this, you don't need to deal with my shit, oh God, Poe. Poe. I... please, just, let me know how I can fix this. I fucked up everything."

When Finn looked up, he expected Poe to be in the same spot, or at least for him to storm out of their cabin, BB in tow, never to be seen again. What Finn didn't expect was to see a look of disbelief, anger, and sadness on Poe's face. Finn's heart stuttered. His surprise and shock at Poe's reaction made him even more unprepared for Poe's next move. Finn watched, paralyzed, as Poe strode towards him.

And he continued to be surprised by Poe Dameron, future pilot, as Poe took Finn's face in his hands, and kissed him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nice.  
> I can't decide if I'm gonna write a sex scene partially due to time constraints and also my general fear of writing smut lmao but y'all will figure that out by next chapter! I will change the rating so you'll figure it out before you read.  
> The scar thing was actually a conversation I had with my cousin who has a bad bullet scar on his ribs from fighting in Afghanistan, so there's a little bit of my personal shit in here. Enjoy.  
> Again, thank you guys for your sweet comments! It literally makes my life, I love y'all so much and I can't wait to give you guys another chapter!


	11. To Have You For the Night (You've Had Me All Along)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Apparently, romance is a full camp activity. Also, foxes are not good at setting the mood.

Finn felt his heart leap into his throat the instant he felt Poe's lips on his. The feel of slightly chapped lips only lasted for a moment before Poe pulled away, a look of fear in his eyes. Poe tugged his hand through his curls, a pained expression on his face. "Shit, I'm sorry Finn, that was totally uncalled for I should've ask-"

Poe was cut off as Finn grabbed his wrist and pulled him back, their lips meeting once more. Despite the time that had passed since skinny dipping, Finn still tasted the hint of lake water on Poe's lips, along with something darker, deeper, something uniquely... Poe. Finn's curiosity toward the taste is what drove him to open his mouth the minute he felt Poe's tongue trace along his bottom lip. Finn's senses seemed to sing as Poe took over every aspect of his life. All he could taste was Poe's tongue, he smelled Poe's soap, he heard the noises Poe made at the back of his throat, he felt himself being backed towards Poe's bed and he felt fingers tracing against his stomach as Poe's fingers wrapped around the bottom of his shirt.

The two were so wrapped up in each other, reveling in the feeling of having each other so close after months of pining. They were so oblivious to the world around themselves that they forgot they had company until Finn was backed up all the way to Poe's bed. The two collapsed on top of each other, partially landing on BB and causing the fox to yelp. The sharp sound caused the two to spring apart, reverie broken.

Finn and Poe stared at each other on Poe's bed, eyes wide, hearts pounding, hair mussed, lips red. For what seems like an eternity, silence stretched across the cabin. Then, Poe heard a strangled noise come from the back of Finn's throat before a laugh bubbled out. Poe's heart stopped. Why was Finn laughing?

"Why are you laughing?"

Finn shook his head and laughed a little more before sobering. He fixed Poe with a serious stare and said in a low voice, "You've heard of cockblocked, now get ready for... foxblocked."

Poe stared at Finn incredulously before the joke really set in. Soon, the two were laying on the floor in stitches.

"You're such a, aha, you're a fucking dork, Trooper."

Finn wiggled his eyebrows, causing Poe to laugh more. Soon, their laughter subsided, and they were left in silence, laying on the wood floor. Finn reached over to Poe and found his hand. He looped his pinkie over Poe's and took a deep breath. "So... what are we doing?'

Silence settled in the room again before Poe gently untangled his finger from Finn's and sat up. Finn mirrored his movements and watched as Poe took a shuddering breath before beginning. "I like you, Finn. A lot. Beyond belief. That first day, when BB knocked you over, I could barely function when I saw your face for the first time. And, since then, no matter what I'm doing, at any time of day, no matter who I'm with, I'm always thinking of you." Poe self-consciously glanced at Finn before continuing. "The more I learned about you, the more I liked you. And I don't mean your secrets, I mean the more I learned about who you were as a person. Like, that one day when you taught Mark how to make really good paper airplanes, or how you made Natalie a "giant". The way you _care_ so goddamn much. Remember when Phasma was late to breakfast, and you lost your mind? I wondered if you did the same for me when I was late to stuff and it honestly made my heart race, dammit. Well, everything you do makes my heart race, Finn. I don't know how you feel but that's my side of this story. And I understand if you wanna walk away from this and never think about this but... just know that to have you for the night was everything I wanted."

Finn sat in silent shock, processing Poe's words. He could feel his pulse in his fingertips, beating as fast as a rabbit's. Poe's head remained down, eyes fixed on the wooden floorboards.

"To have me for the night?"

Poe looked up at Finn's question and nodded before looking back toward the ground. He heard some shuffling, then two hands came to the side of his face and dragged his gaze up, where he found Finn's eyes, a small smile on his face. Finn's lips parted to speak, and Poe delighted in the feel of Finn's breath against his face as Finn spoke his next words.

"Poe... you've had me all along."

 

 

 

"THAT'S what you said? Jesus Christ Finn, when did you become such a goddamn cornball?"

Rey cackled over her breakfast as Finn attempted to hush her. "Rey! I'm telling you this in confidence and you laughing your ass off over a bowl of grits is not necessarily subtle!"

Rey continued to snicker. "Sorry dude, but like, what the fuck?" She lowered her voice to a baritone and mocked, "'Poe, you've had me all along...', like, who says that? Are we on Brokeback Mountain? Do you wish you knew how to quit him?"

Finn kicked Rey under the table. "At least me being cheesy is getting me somewhere! I'm sure you falling all over yourself around Jess is really getting you far, huh?"

Rey fell quiet, then glanced up from her breakfast and gave Finn a sly grin, tongue between her teeth. Finn's mouth fell open and he looked around the table before leaning forward and smacking Rey's arm. "You guys hooked up!"

Rey gave him a full smile and nodded. "You see, unlike you, we don't have any pets, so..."

"Fuck you."

"Hey! That's my job!" Jess smiled widely as she slid into a seat next to Rey, grin growing larger as she saw red spread across her face.

Snap sat next to Finn. "I assume you've heard? She a lesbian. They lesbianing together," he said, motioning at Rey and Jess.

Jess flicked a piece of scrambled egg at him. "Stop quoting Orange is the New Black, Snap."

"Stop being gay, Jess."

The two began bantering as Poe slid into his seat next to Finn. He looked at the two nervously. "This isn't about us, is it?"

Finn grinned and shook his head. "Apparently last night was romantic for more than one cabin."

Poe's eyes grew wide. He leaned over the table to look at Snap. "Snap! You got lucky? I thought you were ace?"

Finn rolled his eyes and dragged Poe down by his jacket. "Not Snap, moron!" Finn jerked his head towards Rey's flushed face. He watched as realization slowly dawned on Poe's face before a huge smile blossomed across his face. Poe opened his mouth to congratulate his friends before they heard a mumble from the end of the table.

"They lesbianing together."

"Temmin Wexley I swear to God."

 

 

 

 By the end of the day, Finn and Poe were beat. They had decided to tell the adults and counselors about their relationship because they felt it was better to be honest than to keep it a secret from everyone. The reactions had all been positive, but some of them had been... interesting, to say the least. Luke, for one, said nothing, but led them to the infirmary and pulled out a handful of condoms to offer them, much to Poe's delight and Finn's embarrassment. Han had just shrugged, while Leia gave them the "talk", this time to both Finn and Poe's embarrassment. Phasma, uncharacteristically, had hugged the two of them until Poe swore one of his ribs was broken. Ben and Hux were pretty indifferent to the relationship, but Poe insisted that Hux was jealous that he and Ben weren't the first official couple of camp.

Finn and Poe trudged through the door and toed off their shoes at the door. Finn dragged himself over to his bed and flopped down on it. Soon after, he felt Poe's weight join him. The bed vibrated beneath them as Poe let out an exhausted groan, the vibrations in his chest carrying across the mattress. Finn chuckled. "I didn't think our 'big reveal' was that bad."

"No, it's not that it was bad. People at this camp are just too... involved."

"Could've been worse. Luke nearly passed out when he heard about Rey and Jess. It's all okay now, but damn, you should've seen the look on his face."

Poe shrugged. "Parents freak out when they realize their kids are growing up. It happens."

Finn's heart jumped. "Poe? Do your... um, do your parents know about me? About us? I know you call them every day, but I didn't know if you decided to tell them."

Poe looked over at Finn. "Of course they know. In fact, this whole camp experience has been a ploy to get you to fall in love with me. My mom and dad arranged for us to be together. They're very dedicated in their quest to have grandkids."

Finn grabbed his pillow and hit Poe in the face, earning a laugh. Poe sat up and looked Finn in the eye. "Finn, I've been telling them about you since they saw you. I should've put you on the call this morning, they literally cheered when I told them we kissed." Poe laughed, and Finn grinned up at him. "They can't wait to meet you. My mom will probably smother you, and my dad will tell you enough bad jokes to last a lifetime. Also, you'll get to see bad baby pictures of me."

"Baby pictures? Oh, I'm sold."

Poe smiled down at Finn and leaned down to brush their lips together. Although this wasn't the first time they had kissed, Finn still felt the same fireworks in his head when Poe's lips met his. This time, it was Finn who moved to deepen the kiss as he ran his tongue across the seam of Poe's lips. Poe opened his mouth and let Finn explore, and moved to straddle him on the bed. Finn reached up and found Poe's neck as an anchor, using it to try to get more from him, to find more.

Suddenly, Finn felt something that wasn't Poe brush against his arm. The two broke the kiss and looked over to see BB, wagging her tail and staring at them. Poe sighed and slumped down, covering Finn's body with his own and burying his face into Finn's neck. "Foxblocked," he said, muffled by Finn's shirt.

Finn chuckled and nodded in agreement. "Foxblocked."

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...  
>  I really meant to write a sex scene this chapter. Like, no lie, I was all set to do it, and then I remembered that BB is in the cabin and I dunno about y'all but I have no desire to ever have sex in front of my pets so, sex scene TBA. All I can say is that there will definitely be one, but for now, sorry guys.  
> The title of this chapter comes from a song called Midnight Dancers by Wolf Gang I 10/10 recommend not only the song but also the band!  
> As always, your comments give me so much joy! You guys are too sweet to me. This fic is coming to a close and some of you have been keeping track of my fic since the beginning and I'm so happy I could share this with you.


	12. Goodbye, Summer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Camp's coming to a close, but that doesn't mean anything, does it?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> .... fam.  
>  I am beyond sorry for how long it took to update this. Like, this is actually upsetting to me, I'm so sorry. A combination of settling into university + university marching band has made me busy as fuck, and I'm also just a lazy piece of shit tbh.  
> 

Leia's arm dropped to her side and she fell into a beach chair behind her, fanning herself with a clipboard. The counselors followed suit, slumping into chairs or even falling to the ground. Leia looked around at the teenagers surrounding her, a tired smile on her face. "Well kids," she sighed, "there goes the last camper. Camp Lightside is now closed until next year."

Soft smiles and sad sighs passed through the group of kids. Even Chewie made a soft moaning noise, as if he too were mourning the end of summer. Poe chuckled at the noise and leaned into Finn as they sat on the ground side by side, watching the last minivan speed off down the mountain. The week had passed in a blur. The "last s'mores" had taken place last night, but after the chaos that had just occured as all the kids left en masse, it felt like a lifetime ago. Saying goodbye to the kids had been hard, but it wasn't the goodbye Finn was dreading. The counselors all stayed at the camp for a week after everyone had left, partially to help with cleanup and shutting down the place for the off season, but also so they could enjoy the last scraps of summer at camp. A week. Finn had one week before he went back to Berkeley, and Poe went back to the Air Force Academy. One week until goodbye.

Leia began listing off responsibilities that needed to be taken care of before they left, but Finn felt like his ears were ringing as he thought of life past summer camp. What about Finn and Poe? Would they survive, separated by 1,300 miles? Or would Poe come to his senses and realize how much of a mess Finn really was?

Finn broke out of his reverie when he felt a slight pressure on his knee. He looked down and saw a penny there. He smiled and turned to Poe, who winked in return. "When we get back to the cabin," Poe whispered, nodding at the penny. Finn nodded and tried to turn his attention to Leia's announcements, but still found himself distracted by the thoughts in his head.

 

 

 

"What do you think you're doing?"

Rey grinned cheekily as she stood outside Cabin 2187, BB in her arms. "You two need some...  _alone time_ ," she said, wiggling her eyebrows, "so Jess and I are babysitting for the night!" She flounced away, turning to remind them, "Be safe, you two!" before laughing.

Fin shook his head. "Does everyone in this godforsaken camp want us to fuck?" he muttered.

Poe turned and gave Finn a sly grin, tongue between his teeth. "Well,  _I_ certainly want us to."

Finn flushed and Poe giggled, grabbing Finn's hand to drag him into the cabin. He pushed Finn into the cabin and spun him around so his back was against the door. Finn looked at Poe's bright eyes, the flush to his face, and gave a small grin before he felt Poe's lips on his. The two had kissed multiple times since lake night, but damn, if each time wasn't just as exhilarating as the first. Poe kept his lips on Finn's as he began directing him again, this time to the bed, where they fell together. Finn broke off the kiss with a little exclamation, reaching under his back to pick up one of BB's toys. Poe stared at the toy before he began laughing manically, and Finn joined in. "Unbelie-haha-unbeFUCKINGlievable, my goddamn fox can stop us from fucking even when she's fifty cabins away," Poe laughed, rolling off Finn to lay next to him. 

Finn curled into Poe's side, heart still racing. "Poe?" 

"Hmmm?"

Finn took a shaky breath. "What're... what will we do after... this?"

Poe was silent for a moment. "I dunno. Do you think Luke will let us into the dining hall after we've done the nasty?"

Finn nudged him with his shoulder and Poe gave a little chuckle before going silent again. "Finn, what do you want?"

Finn shrugged. "I want to be happy."

"That's pretty vague."

"I know."

Silence settled back in.

"You make me happy."

Poe looked at Finn and held his eyes for a long while before kissing his forehead. "You make me happy too, Finn."

Finn looked at Poe, then sat up and straddled Poe. "Then I want you."

Poe gave him a soft smile as he sat up. "That's less vague," he muttered as he kissed Finn again, tongue exploring his mouth as if it were still the first time. Finn's fingers found the hem of Poe's shirt and tugged, and the two broke so Finn could remove Poe's shirt, and then, with a bit of hesitation, Finn removed his own. Poe reached around and gently traced Finn's scar before pulling him back into the kiss. Finn moved from Poe's lips to his jaw, peppering kisses down to the base of his throat. Experimentally, he gave a small bite to the side of Poe's neck, and Poe groaned, a sound that sent an electric jolt through Finn's body.

Poe pulled Finn away and looked deep into his eyes. "If you give me a hickey, YOU have to tell Leia where it came from."

Finn smiled nervously. "Sorry. I've never done this before, I'm just... going off what I've seen."

Poe gave him a look. "You mean, like, porn?"

Despite the circumstances, Finn flushed and nodded. Poe chuckled. "That's not what sex is like, Finn. Lay down," he said, indicating the space next to them. 

Finn rolled off Poe and laid back against the pillow. Poe kissed him softly, once, twice, before moving his body further down to plant kisses on Finn's collarbone, his chest, right above his bellybutton. He looked up at Finn seductively as he began to unbutton his shorts. "Is it ok if I take off your... camp regulated cargo shorts?" Poe asked, his voice husky.

Finn laughed and Poe laughed along with him as he pulled the shorts off, leaving Finn in only his boxers. He threw the shorts to the floor and grinned at Finn. "Cute undies."

"Undies???"

Poe snorted and went back to work, palming Finn through his boxers. Half hard, Finn tossed his head back and sighed. He felt Poe mouth him through his boxers and groaned. He heard Poe chuckle and felt his fingers tickling along his hips as he pulled Finn's boxers down. Finn looked down at Poe as he took him into his hand, tugging his erection with gentle strokes. Finn took a shuddering breath and Poe smiled devilishly. "Do you like that?" Poe asked, and Finn nodded so fast the bed shook. Poe's grin grew wider. "Just wait," he muttered, and then he took Finn into his mouth.

Finn swore he stopped breathing. All he could feel was...  _Poe,_ for lack of a better idea. Each time Poe moved, Finn's brain was wiped clean. He could only feel.

He whined when Poe took his mouth off his cock, nearly weeping at the loss of this sensation. He looked up to see what was wrong and caught eyes with Poe. "Is everything okay? Did I do something wrong?" Finn asked, worried that he'd already fucked up.

Poe shook his head vehemently. "No! I was just making sure you were okay. Are you okay?"

Finn nodded. "Yeah Poe, I'm... God, it feels so good Poe,"

Poe smiled that devilish smile again before reaching up to twine their fingers together, then he returned his attention to Finn, now fully hard. It was only a matter of time before Finn was clenching Poe's hand and arching off the bed, stars exploding behind his eyes.

When he came down, Poe was laying next to him, a soft smile on his face as he watched Finn, breathless and flushed, trying to make sense of what had just happened. 

Finn panted, trying to gather his wits, to say something to Poe, the man he loved, the man who made him happy.

"Holy fuck."

Poe chuckled. "I see getting a blowjob did wonders for your eloquence."

"You shut the fuck up." 

Poe chuckled again and traced lazy patterns on Finn's still rising and falling chest. Finn turned and pulled Poe's head down for a kiss. He pushed his fingers through Poe's curls, tugging them and making him moan into his mouth. After a few minutes, Finn moved his hand from Poe's head to his cock, and Poe broke the kiss to look into Finn's eyes. 

"You sure?" Poe asked, searching Finn's face. Finn nodded, and Poe bit his lip, looking more uncertain than Finn had ever seen before. "Because you don't have to, if you don't want to."

Finn leaned over so his lips were right above Poe's, and Poe felt Finn's words against his mouth. "I want to."

With that, he pressed one more kiss to Poe's lips and moved down his body, in the process bumping against his shin and causing the two of them to swear loudly. Finn then tried to remove Poe's khakis as seductively as possible, but ended up taking off his button, which sent Poe into fits of laughter.

Finn was off to a great start.

Once Finn got to Poe's member, he began to feel nervous. What if he wasn't good enough? Poe had been with so many people, but Finn's experience? Only what he'd seen in porn. And so far, this had been nothing like the stuff he found online.

Tentatively, Finn licked up Poe's cock, base to tip. He heard Poe's breath stutter, a good sign. Slowly, he took Poe into his mouth and attempted to imitate what Poe had done for him only moments before. Soon after he began, he heard Poe mutter his name softly, so he looked up to make sure everything was okay, and was met with an incredible sight.

Poe was flushed and was breathing heavily, with pupils so dilated that his dark brown eyes were now black. His curls and skin held drops of sweat that shook when he moaned. The sight was enough to make Finn moan, and when he did, the sensation sent Poe's eyes rolling towards the back of his head. Finn made note of that.

After a few minutes, Poe knew he was close, so he pulled Finn up from between his legs to give him a bruising kiss as he took himself into his hand. The sensation of Finn moaning against his mouth helped send him over the edge, and he climaxed, shuddering against Finn's body.

Now it was Poe's turn to sit and try to regain his breath, with Finn pressing kisses to his collarbone and shoulder. Poe gave a breathless laugh. "Holy  _shit_ , Finn," he stuttered out. "That was...  _incredible._ "

Finn chuckled, a sound that echoed low in his chest. "Good. I-I'm glad," he whispered, leaning his head against Poe's chest.

Poe reached over and grabbed some tissues to clean himself off and tried to toss the soiled tissue into the wastebasket, but ended up tossing it onto the floor. Finn snorted. "Well done. You getting drafted by the NBA?"

Poe huffed out a laugh. "Leave me alone."

The two sat in silence for a while. Finn started to drift off before Poe spoke softly.

"Finn?"

"Hmm?"

A pause.

"I think I love you."

Finn's heart stopped.

"I love you too."

 

 

 

 

The two jolted awake to thuds at the door and Rey loudly announcing the 10 seconds they had to get decent before she was coming in with BB. Poe and Finn had only a moment to jump out of bed,grab pants, and kick yesterday's clothes under the bed before Rey, Jess, and Snap pushed open the cabin door, with BB running through their legs to get back into the cabin. Finn and Poe stood there, attempting a straight face as their three friends stood at the door with three nearly identical grins.

"How was your night?" Rey asked, leaning against the door frame.

Finn cleared his throat. "It was fine! We had a good time."

"Yeah?"

Finn and Poe nodded and Rey's grin widened, tongue between her teeth. She tilted her head towards Poe. "Your pants are backwards, love."

Poe flushed bright red as he looked down at his sweatpants, and the three at the door burst into laughter. Jess rubbed her eyes. "Alright you two, get dressed properly, it's time for breakfast."

The girls turned to leave, but Snap pointed a finger into the room and raised his eyebrows. Finn and Poe turned and saw Poe's tissue, still sitting by the wastebasket. Snap chuckled and left, leaving Finn, Poe, and BB in the soft sunlight in the cabin. Poe turned to Finn and shrugged. "That went better than expected."

Finn rolled his eyes and gave Poe a quick kiss. "Fix your damn pants, Flyboy."

 

 

 

 

The rest of the week passed quickly. Too quickly.

To be fair, it was one of the best weeks of Finn's life. It was a week full of nighttime swims, dining hall raids, s'mores, and of course, Poe. But soon enough, Finn was standing next to Rey's car exchanging goodbye hugs.

Phasma came first and gave him a bone crushing hug, making him promise to come back next year. Finn told her he had already made up his mind about coming back a long time ago, which gave her the biggest smile Finn had ever seen.

Leia and Han bid their farewells with huge hugs and both of them making him and Rey promise to take care of each other at "that crazy liberal college".

Hux and Ben weren't one for hugs, but each gave Finn a handshake, which was more than he expected.

Snap and Jess both gave him hugs that lifted him off the ground, which made Finn laugh, and they both promised to come visit.

Luke clapped him on the back and reaffirmed that Finn would be attending Skywalker Thanksgiving. Finn said there was no place he'd rather be.

Then came the goodbye hug he'd been dreading.

Poe waited until everyone was distracted and dispersed before approaching Finn, holding something behind his back. Finn raised an eyebrow at his boyfriend.

Poe had a slight blush as he pulled a worn leather jacket from behind his back. "This is, um, this is my favorite jacket. And I want you to take it with you. As a piece of me, or something, I dunno," he mumbled.

Finn's heart melted. "You fucking sap," he chuckled. "I can't take this."

Poe pressed the jacket to Finn's chest. "I want you to have it. I know California doesn't really have seasons so chances of you actually needing this are slim, but, if you miss me, it might be like I'm there."

Finn reached up and brushed Poe's fingers with his own as he took the jacket. He put it on, and found Poe was right. It smelled just like him. It was like a piece of him.

Poe grinned with his bottom lip between his teeth and tugged on the lapels. "It suits you."

Finn smiled softly and pulled Poe into a hug and buried his face into his neck. "I'm gonna miss you."

He felt Poe sigh. "I'm gonna miss you too."

They eventually pulled a part and exchanged a chaste kiss and promises of regular phone and Skype conversations. Rey walked over with Jess, both of them with red-tinged eyes. They yelled out final goodbyes and everyone around came to see them off.

Rey and Finn climbed into the car and got it started. "Ready to go?" she asked, sniffing.

Finn only nodded, not trusting himself with the lump in his throat. He felt a gentle pressure against his knee and looked over to see Rey had laid a hand against his leg. "It's not goodbye, Finn. It's more like a.. a see you later."

Finn gave a watery smile and nodded, and Rey returned the smile. "Now, are you gonna pull that shit map out again? Or do you trust me?"

Finn began laughing, and Rey's smile grew. She turned and put the car in reverse and began backing out of the spot, then turned to drive down the gravel path. Finn watched as Camp Lightside got smaller and smaller against the midday sun and took a deep breath as he watched nine figures watch them go until they were out of sight. 

Not goodbye.

See you later.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's over!  
> This is the end! I may write an epilogue but I'm not sure yet, let me know what y'all think? Again, thank you guys so much for the positive reviews and the words of love throughout this story. This is my first fic and it really means a lot to me that you guys liked it. If you've been with me since the beginning, thank y'all so much for sticking with me this whole time and dealing with my SUPER INCONSISTENT updates. It seriously does mean a lot to me. Love you guys :)


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